Judge bans asbestos attorney

The law firm asked the judge to reconsider the ban, and a hearing was scheduled for today.
CLEVELAND (AP) -- A low-key judge fed up with disrespectful behavior and alleged lies by an attorney created a stir with a courtroom ban on the lawyer from a nationally known San Francisco-area law firm that handles asbestos-related lawsuits coast-to-coast.
The case before Judge Harry Hanna and his response gave a rare look into the workings of a legal system where 400-an-hour attorneys, many traveling cross-country on a case-by-case basis, argue the hazards of asbestos and who's to blame for debilitating lung ailments that can result from exposure to the insulating material.
"They have not conducted themselves with dignity. They have not honestly discharged the duties of an attorney in this case," Hanna said in a scathing Jan. 18 ruling banning Christopher Andreas and his law firm from his court. He accused the attorney of trying to withhold evidence and lying about the handling of claims.
Hearing today
Andreas' Brayton Purcell law firm of Novato, Calif., asked the judge to reconsider the ban, and a hearing was scheduled for today.
Andreas and the law firm won't have any comment on the matter, attorney Jerome Fishkin said in e-mail responses to an Associated Press interview request. Fishkin, based in Walnut Creek, Calif., advises attorneys on ethics issues.
Hanna's ruling thrust him into the legal limelight and was celebrated by those who blame trial lawyers for unwarranted lawsuits and increased consumer product costs. The editorial page of The Wall Street Journal, often critical of lawsuit abuses, said Hanna's ruling set an example for judges to take a hard line against litigation fraud.
The Ohio Supreme Court has given local judges wide discretion in deciding whether to admit out-of-state attorneys for trial work and whether to revoke that permission for conduct "which could taint or diminish the integrity of future proceedings."
Hanna, who handles more than 17,000 asbestos cases, said his ruling wouldn't disqualify the law firm from working in other courts.
Asbestos, which can cause cancer and other medical problems if inhaled, was widely used in construction and for other purposes until the mid-1970s. A 2005 study by the Rand Corp. think tank released said about 730,000 people had sued over asbestos exposure through 2002, with many more lawsuits anticipated as medical complications manifest themselves.
The public scolding of Andreas and the Brayton Purcell firm, which specializes in product liability cases and has worked in all 50 states, emerged from a lingering asbestos liability lawsuit filed on behalf of Jack Kananian of suburban Broadview Heights. He died at 73 of a form of lung cancer in 2000 and his wife and estate have pressed the matter since then.
At issue was whether Kananian's mesothelioma lung disease was caused by exposure to asbestos in the filters of Kent cigarettes.
Hanna, 66, works with two other judges handling 37,000 asbestos lawsuits in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court in Cleveland, a consolidated docket similar to those elsewhere amid vast numbers of asbestos lawsuits. Hanna banned Andreas and Brayton Purcell from his court by granting a motion made by the attorneys for the defendant, Greensboro, N.C.-based Lorillard Tobacco Co.
Warning
The ban should be a warning to attorneys to behave and obey court rules like sharing evidence before a trial and telling the truth, according to Susan Becker, a Cleveland State University law professor who is writing a book on attorney ethics.
"I would hope a lot of attorneys are taking this to heart," she said. Hanna's ruling "could have a good effect in terms of shaking out some of the attorneys who handle these cases whose ethics we might question."
Hanna, in a 19-page ruling, said Andreas had lied about Kananian's medical pathology tests and legal filings, urged one party to withhold evidence, misrepresented his role in handling claim forms and was "disrespectful, obstructive and untruthful" at a June 28, 2006, deposition. The judge said e-mails underscored a misrepresentation by Andreas about his awareness of a pending change in an asbestos claim.
While the issue at hand was obscure, Andreas "chose to weave a seemingly endless web of deceit. What a shame!," the judge wrote.
Andreas showed up at the deposition, which are often done in a formal conference room setting, dressed in a T-shirt that read, "Killer smokes -- Kent Cigarettes -- 1952-1956 -- made by Lorillard Tobacco."
"For an officer of the court to show such lack of respect is shocking," Hanna said.
Hanna expressed surprise at the buzz in the legal community, including blogs, and said he was simply signing off on good legal work by the Lorillard attorneys who detailed problems with Andreas' work in their legal motion to kick him out.
"I was embarrassed by all the publicity. I certainly didn't expect it," Hanna said in an interview in his courthouse office.
He said attorneys who come before him typically are highly professional, often making his work harder because their legal arguments are done so well.
"They know what to fight about and they know when to fight," he said.
Hanna said the Kananian family and a second family attorney were blameless in any legal misbehavior and said ousting Andreas wouldn't affect the future of the case.